BBC News with Iain Purdon
An Arab League council meeting in Morocco has given the Syrian government three days to stop what it called the "bloody
repression
" of Syria's people and accept Arab League observers to verify the situation. The move follows attacks by Syrian government supporters on the embassies of several Arab countries, which began after the league voted to suspend Syria. Jon Leyne reports from the Moroccan capital Rabat.
Once again, Arab ministers have been extremely tough with Syria. They've given President Assad's government just three days to accept a plan for 500 human rights monitors, military observers and journalists to be deployed there. If Syria does not agree, then the Arab League will impose unspecified economic sanctions. The Qatari foreign minister said they were close to the end of the road in diplomacy with Syria. The Syrian government continues to insist it is battling armed gangs not attacking protesters, so the monitoring could be a way of demonstrating its version of events. But all the signs from Damascus suggest no compromise.
The Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti has been
sworn in
as head of a new government made up entirely of
technocrats
. The country's new leader said he would also take on the finance portfolio and his main aim was Italy's economic growth. Our Europe correspondent Chris Morris reports.
A ceremony to swear in a new government in Rome. And anyone uncertain about the extent to which the eurozone crisis is bringing about profound change should consider this: Italy, a major European power, now has a cabinet made up entirely of technocrats. Unlike in Greece, there's not an elected politician among them. Mario Monti's government intends to usher in rapid economic reform to try to calm financial speculation.